


Untethered

by ViolaRosa



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29457048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolaRosa/pseuds/ViolaRosa
Summary: This wouldn't be happening if it weren't for the Astrals. Her family was suffering all because of a stupid prophecy the Astrals concocted just to get someone else to clean up the mess they made. She'll break these chains tying her bloodline to those moronic gods, even if it means she was going against the gods themselves.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first fanfic EVER. I have no idea what I'm doing but I am hoping to those who will be reading this might enjoy it. I'll be adding more tags as I go along.

No matter how many times they've traveled around Eos in the past years, it always amazes them of how much the land is making progress on healing after 5 years of darkness and daemon infestations. They were progressing by leaps and bounds and so far the results are astounding.

Kirsi smiled as she spotted children running and playing through the streets of Lestallum, the adults walking to and fro without fear, the abundance of food in every stall and establishment, the sight of power plant workers taking breaks instead of tirelessly working around the meteor to provide much needed light, and of course the lack of walls that used to enclose Lestallum to keep the daemons at bay.

And to think that it was once humanity's one of few remaining strongholds during those long nights a mere five years ago.

"So what's our new agenda?" Lily mumbled through a mouthful of fries. The four of them were seated at a café just outside of the Leville where they were staying for the night.

Liivi hummed as he took a sip of his soda before leaning against his seat. "The outlying lands appear to be clean. My teams have been sent out to continuously patrol, of course."

"What of the undergrounds?" Kirsi questioned, fiddling the top of her own soda can.

"Already on it. My teams are scouring every nook and cranny." Lionel piped in, occupied on devouring the crêpes he ordered.

"Are your teams checking the seas?" Liivi turned to Kirsi.

"Yeah, I've also sent Jor seeing as he can track a scent in the water better than anyone else."

Lily hummed a playful sound, grinning at Kirsi like a cat who got the cream. "Guess this means the four nations are the only ones left unchecked, huh?“

"Uh huh." Liivi agreed nonchalantly but wasn't even attempting to fight off the grin appearing on his face. He laid down a huge map depicting the whole continent; the regions of the four nations were encircled in red while their capitals were dotted.

Kirsi huffed at her cousins. "I'll take Accordo."

"Nuh uh. No way, cuz. You'll be going to the big apple."

"If you haven't forgotten, Accordo is completely surrounded by water which makes me the perfect candidate to go scout there."

"Yes, but you're not the one who was born in Accordo, I was, which gives me more intimate knowledge of the place." Lily stuck out her tongue at her cousin who merely glowered at her. "And I think it's about time you visited ol' Prince Charming in Insomnia. Don't you think?" she added innocently, her hands underneath her chin and head tilted.

Kirsi merely gave her the finger.

"Then I guess this means I'll be heading to Niflhiem and Lionel to Tenebrae." Liivi ticked off something on his notedpad he pulled from his bag. "We leave first thing in the morning."

And they did just that.

Just as the sun rose, the four made their way to the market to stock up on supplies and to ask the local vendors if they knew any means of transportation to Tenebrae and Lucis.

Several vendors pointed them towards a supplier who was responsible of managing the deliveries being made between the regions of Lucis and Tenebrae. "Lucky for you, kids, 'cause a few of our delivery trucks are headed there right now. If you want you can hitch a ride at the back."

Liivi smiled at the kind burly man. "We promise to pay you for allowing us to tag along."

"Oh nonsense! You're not the first people we've hitchhiked. Ever since the return of the sun, people scattered all over the continent came flocking back to Lucis to see the King and help with the rebuilding. Not only that but by some divine blessing all the people who'd died during those 5 years of long nights came back! I don't know how he did it but I never would have thought I'd see my wife again." The man got teary-eyed at that. "Delivering supplies is the least I can do to help with the rebuilding effort."

Liivi and the others subtly glanced at each other. "We'd also like to help with the restoration but we're more excited of going back to our homeland." He said with a smile.

"As you should." The burly man patted him at the back before coaxing the four to the trucks.

The two girls squeezed into the passenger seat of the truck headed towards Lucis before turning to the two boys.

"You guys better keep in touch. And remember to give a weekly update." The reminded the eldest.

Lily rolled her eyes at her older brother but gave him a half hug, same with her younger brother.

Kirsi made to wave goodbye at them seeing as she was sitting in the inner sit when Lionel threw a familiar black packet at her. It rattled as she caught it and just the sound triggered a burning sensation in her throat.

Lionel raised a brow at her. "I brought extras. Something tells me you're gonna need it."

Kirsi stared at the black box in her hand. It wasn't noteworthy, just a simple black rectangular box that could fit in her hand, but its contents is probably the most important thing she's had to carry during these survey missions they've been doing for the past 5 years.

Feeling the truck move, Kirsi pocketed the box and sent a smile and wave at her two cousins just as the truck moved to the main road and then they were heading for Lucis.

-

It was around noon when they reached Galdin Quay where they dropped off Lily. The sound of waves crashing against the sand and the smell of the sea stirred a longing inside Kirsi, she felt a little jealous of Lily. Altissia was one of her favorite places she and the Princess would often go to. Although after what happened during the Hydraean covenant may have destroyed the once beautiful city, her affection for the capital still remained.

Lily scrambled for her bag and jumped out of the truck. "Good luck in Lucis, cousin. You're gonna need it." She threw a cheeky wink at her glaring cousin and dodged a swipe at her head before running towards the resort.

"Musta been a big family, huh? I mean Tenebrae, Lucis AND Accordo?" Commented the truck driver as they continued the drive towards Lucis.

Kirsi shrugged but stayed quiet, letting her music player blast at full volume through her earphones and simply watch the scenery pass by.

-

A few hours later, they'd reached Hammerhead where the head driver decided to take a short break seeing as they were nearly to Lucis.

Kirsi stretched on her seat, shaking away the stiffness of her limbs when she heard several familiar voices. She took a glance at the side mirror and saw Cindy and Cid coming out of the garage, laughing and talking to someone still in the garage. Kirsi adjusted in her position so she could peek out the window, making sure only a portion of her head was jutting out, to see who they were talking to when the person fully stepped out.

Kirsi let out a squeak and ducked to hide.

She'd know that hairstyle anywhere, and with that blonde hair, it was no brainer who it was but hearing his bubbly laugh only confirmed it.

Prompto was here in Hammerhead.

Kirsi took several deep breaths to calm herself, it was way too early in the game for her to be discovered. She glanced at the side mirror.

Prompto was still talking to Cindy and Cid but it looked like they were about to finish. Prompto then hugged the two and mounted the motorcycle bike he'd dragged out of the garage and rode off.

Kirsi ducked again as Prompto rode by the truck. She stared at his form speeding away till he was just a speck on the horizon before letting out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

The head driver came back with a bag of fries and a burger for her. If he saw her nervous expression he didn't comment, simply started the truck and drove off.

-

The faint sound of waves woke Kirsi from her light nap, which tells her they were nearing the land bridge that connects Lucis from the rest of the continent. And surely enough, when she gazed forward she could see the vast outline of the walls that surrounds Lucis in the distance.

Seeing her home after 5 years brought about a strong surge of homesickness. She couldn't stop the flood of fond memories she had living in the capital with the Royal family. The Princess' strong but gentle presence, King Regis' moments of fatherly affections, the Prince's fishing and arcade excursions, Prompto's camera flashes, Ignis' cooking and mother henning, Gladiolus' manhandling and the Kingsglaive's unprofessional antics. The flashbacks seem to spur on the constricting sensation in her chest that she couldn't stop the muffled the sob that escaped her lips; she closed her eyes to will away the stinging.

"It's good to be home, huh, kid?" The driver softly remarked.

The young woman shakily breathed in, wiping away the tears before nodding through an exhale. "It's been awhile since I came here. I would have visited sooner but I had other things to focus on."

The driver merely chuckled. "You don't have to explain yourself, kid. We've all been there."

They drove through a curve in the road when something in the sky towering over Lucis caught her eye, and then she remembered her objective. Taller than the city's tallest skyscraper, probably taller than the mountains she's encountered, stood the Guardian Tree, sturdy and strong, with its lush emerald green canopy probably covering over half the diameter of Lucis.

"That's new." Kirsi said in a conversational tone while subtly scanning the area for any potential dangers lurking around them. Her mission here was to survey the land after all.

"Yeah, no one knows what actually happened but apparently after His Majesty, King Noctis, had defeated that Chancellor dude and brought back the dawn, that tree just sprouted out of nowhere at the dead center of the kingdom. The King and Lady Lunafreya's been trying to commune with the Astrals about it but so far not one of them's been responding."

Kirsi couldn't help grinning at that. First and foremost, is that Noctis and Luna appeared to be alive and doing well. And second, is that the Astrals aren't responding, meaning they must've taken the hint.

They were right outside the main gates, and Kirsi was gettig antsy in her seat. The Crownsguards, judging by their uniforms, at the checkpoint had to do an overall inspection of their caravan before they could pass.

"What's your business here, ma'am?" Asked one female Crownsguard at her.

"Just coming home after a long trip." Kirsi replied before showing the Crownsguard her choker, and most importantly the pendant.

The female Crownsguard squinted at her neck before her eyes widened in recognition. "T-thats—! M-ma'am! Welcome home!" She fumbled into a salute.

"At ease, soldier." She chuckled as she zipped up the jacket she was wearing to hide her choker again.

"It's clean!" Someone shouted behind them.

Kirsi looked to the gaping woman in front of her before placing a finger to her lips. "If you wouldn't mind, could you not tell anyone I'm here. Especially your higher ups." At the uncomfortable look on the woman's face, Kirsi added, "My cousins and I got a bet going on and I plan to win."

The woman was silent for a moment before nodding. She gave her a faint thank you as the truck moved on.

Kirsi looked to the city in front of her and whispered, "I'm home."


	2. Chapter 2

When he stepped into that throne room, Noctis had accepted his fate.

The ongoing war with Nilfheim, his father's slowly deteriorating life-force to power the force field protecting their city from daemons and magitek troops, their trip throughout Eos to collect the Royal Arms, the trials he endured from the Astrals to prove his worth for their cooperation when it was they who issued that condemning prophecy in the first place.

The sacrifices of all his loved ones.

It all led to that final moment in that throne room.

His death in exchange for the return of the dawn.

And when he had finally — finally — vanquished the Accursed along with the plague; battered body floating through the void as it slowly crumbled like shattered glass, he only hoped to see his father and sister one last time — to see his father's gentle smile and his sister's proud grin — before darkness embraced him.

So imagine his surprise to find himself waking up in a bed. Alive and well, as if a sword hadn't plunged itself right through his sternum.

He thought he had failed.

That all of their precious efforts were for naught and Ardyn was still alive.

That was when the door to his room opened revealing an exhausted Prompto who froze on the spot when his eyes landed on him.

They stared at each other for a full minute before Prompto broke down crying and launched himself at Noctis, clinging for dear life. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever.

Prompto was the first to pull away albeit reluctantly, saying he needed to tell the others and it didn't take long before they heard frantic footsteps outside getting louder. The door banged against the wall as Gladio practically shouldered his way into the room followed by a disheveled — and no longer blind! — Ignis.

"Ignis! Your eye—“ Noctis wasn't able to finish when he was engulfed in another hug by his advisor and Shield.

They tell him they'd won — after a second round of crying which he will forever deny ever happened — that the Starcourge was no more and that the sun was shining on Eos again for about a month now. People were making their way towards the city and that plans for restoration were being made as they speak.

"But why am I still alive?“ Noctis asked as he stared at his hand, noticing the Ring of Lucii wasn't there. "I'm pretty sure I died on the throne."

His friends winced at that.

"We're not sure of what happened either." Ignis replied, his arms crossed and face contorted in concentration. "All we could remember was fighting against those horde of daemons and then the princess showed up to help—"

Noctis cut him off. "Princess?“

"Your sister." Gladio inserted.

Nostic perked at that. "What?! She was there?! What happened to her? Is she—“

Prompto placed a calming hand on his chest. "Dude, take it easy. Like Iggy said, we don't know what happened. One moment we were fighting daemons with the Princess, next we woke up underneath this huge ass tree with you in it still in a coma."

Noctis couldn't help but stare at him in disbelief but also with hope. “But she survived, right?” If the four of them survived then she surely would have too.

Prompto's sad smile was answer enough.

The room was quiet after that except for the Prince's quiet sobbing.

-

The very next day, after a thorough examination from a hunter medic and several reassurances that he was fine, Noctis pleaded with his friends to show him where they'd found him. And they did, but the tree he had in mind wasn't the behemoth in front of him where the Citadel was supposed to be.

Calling the tree tall would have been the understatement of the century, it completely dwarfed all the city's skyscrapers. It's trunk was probably as wide as the Disc of Cauthess and it's canopy stretched far.

"How did this get here?“ He questioned, gaping at the giant.

“You guess is as good as ours." Gladio grunted as he and Ignis cleaved their way through the dense underbrush surrounding the roots of the colossal tree.

It took them a while before reaching a decently sized clearing, a large expanse of green grass forming a ring around the tree's ridiculously thick roots.

Looking around them, Noctis took notice of the details that indicated this was no ordinary tree; besides its unusually large stature Noctis can see white gold veins starting off thick along roots which then thinned and branched out as it goes up. Crystals of various shapes, sizes and color were embedded, faintly glowing in beat with the pulsating veins. And the leaves — Noctis picked up a fallen leaf — it was a luscious shade of emerald green with beautiful rainbow like iridescent when caught in the light.

"Noct!" Prompto called.

Looking up he saw them pointing to a large hole created by the tree's roots forming into some sort of doorway. Stepping inside, Noctis scanned the makeshift compartment. It could probably fit five people, plenty of flowers sprouted out of the somewhat undisturbed ground as if the tree purposely avoid this little patch of area.

Ignis and Gladio stood guard at the entrance while Prompto went to the very back of the area and sat down with a heavy sigh. He leaned against the tree and patted the space beside him. “Found you here, we woke up just outside... ”

Noctis paused for a moment, staring at the space beside his best friend before plopping down and leaning against the tree as well.

He could feel magic emanating from the tree, familiar but at the same time different. He sensed it reaching out towards him and unconsciously meet it halfway, it was then he felt it envelope him in a warm and comfortable cocoon, much like being swaddled in his amazingly soft bed for a nap. Unable to stop himself, he just closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Seeing their friend having fallen asleep, the other three followed suit, resting against the tree and be lulled by its comforting magic.

It was at that moment the four companions felt they could actually rest easy. No more fighting, no more daemons, no more duties (they'll get to that later), and no more prophecy. Just them and the sound of rustling leaves.

But with this sleep brought a dream to Noctis.

He was standing beside the very throne where his father would sit during council meetings, and right infront of him was his radiant older sister in her simple black dress standing in front of him with a smile. She reached out a hand and gently placed it against his cheek.

"You've done well, baby brother. Eos is saved and the Dawn shines upon the land once more. I'm sure you have a lot of questions but the answers will come to you in time."

Noctis clutched at the hand against his cheek as tears slowly trailed down his face. "Rosie, I—"

She shushed him with an exaggerated raised brow, as if daring him to interrupt her. The familiar action brought out a laugh from the siblings. Noctis quickly wrapped his arms around his sister and hugged her as tight as he could, praying to whoever gave him this boon that this moment be stretched on longer.

The siblings stayed like that for a while, basking in each others presence before he felt his sister speak. "I'm afraid I don't have much time, Noct. I came here to warn you."

Noctis paused at that. What? Warn him?

"You've fulfilled your task but the fight is far from over. Danger still lurks in the land and has masked its presence among the people. You need to find it before it'll overrun the whole continent.”

Noctis tensed as his mind went reeling at the message. He just killed Ardyn barely a month ago and now he's hearing there is still more?! It's as if his last quest wasn't bad enough!

A hand cupped the back of his head and Noctis felt some tension bleed out of him. ”I know. Gods, I know how unfair it is, Noct, but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't so urgent. Rest assured though that you'll have plenty of help this time around, they'll come to you soon."

His sister pulled away to look at him with teary eyes and a sad but proud smile. "I'm sorry for not being there for you as much in the end but know that I love you with all my heart, little brother. Now, be the King I always knew you were meant to be."

At those words Noctis' vision started blurring at the edges and he panicked.

No! It was too soon! He wanted her to stay! He'd be all alone if she disappeared!

As if reading his thoughts his sister gave him an incredulous look. "You'll have your friends with you, brother. They'll be with you every step of the way — and I'm not just referring to Gladio, Ignis and Prompto." Her expression softened back into a smile. "And remember what I always tell you, little brother. Physically, we may be apart,"

Noctis felt his chest tighten at the thought that this might very well be the last time they'll ever do this little ritual. "…but distance means nothing when it deals with the heart.” He whispers brokenly as he felt her place a kiss on his forehead.

Then everything fades to black.

But before he completely loses consciousness, he hears his sister and several other voices proclaim as one, "The Allmother has returned to Eos and has gifted the people the Guardian Tree, her conduit, through which to provide her protection and her bountiful blessings."

A furious beating of wings.

"King Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV, with the Allmother’s grace, lead your kingdom to a new era of peace and prosperity."

In a softer tone but no less crystal clear his sister whispers, "Walk tall, my brother."


End file.
